Washing-machine.



No. 802,502. PATENTED OCT. 24, 1905. J. M. GAGAN.

WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8. 1904.

UNITED STATES- EAITENT orrron.

JAMES M. GAG-AN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO J. M. GAGAN & CO., OFCHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

WASHING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 24:, 1905.

Application filed August 8, 1904, Serial No. 219,835.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J AMns M. GAGAN, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in W ashing-Machines, ofwhich the following is a complete specification.

This invention relates to washing-machines, and relates particularly towashing-machines of the type comprising a casing and a hollow perforatedcylinder for receiving the clothes revolubly mounted therein, saidcasing and cylinder being made wholly or in part of wood, and means forrotating said cylinder comprising a gear secured to rotate with saidcylinder and a pinion revolubly mounted in said casing which meshes withsaid gear. Heretofore the practice has been to support said cylinder andpinion in separate bearings formed on an end wall of the casing. Thisconstruction is found to be objectionable, however, for the reason thatwhen subjected to the action of the water in use the Wood portions ofthe casing and cylinder swell and become distorted, which operateseither to cause the cylinder and pinion to bind in their bearings,thereby causing the machine to work hard, or to spread said bearings,causing a partial or complete disengagement of the teeth of thedriving-pinion from those of the gear, thus seriously interfering withor entirely preventing the designed operation of the machine.

A primary object of the invention is to overcome the foregoingobjectionable features by providing rigidly-connected bearings for saidcylinder and pinion, which will be unaffected by the warping or swellingof the casing and cylinder.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hearing for thedriving-pinion of such construction that said pinion may be withdrawnlaterally from engagement with the gear on the cylinder, so as to permitthe removal of said cylinder from the casing.

My invention consists of the various features, combinations of features,and details of construction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, in which my invention is fullyillustrated, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of awashing-machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view onthe line 2 2 of Fig. 1, the cylinder being indicated in dotted lines;and Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional View on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, A designates as a whole the casing of themachine, comprising an upper wooden portion 1 and a lower sheet-metalportion 2, and B as a whole the cylinder of the machine, comprisingwooden end walls 3 and perforated sheet-metal side walls 4. The cylinderB is provided with a suitable door, through which the interior thereofis accessible, hinged to the side wall 4 at one edge of an openingtherein and adapt ed to be secured in closed position bysuitable means.As shown, said .door consists of articulated sections 5 and 6 and isadapted to be secured in closed position in the following manner: Formedon the side wall 4 of the easing at the opposite side of the openingtherein from that to which said door is hinged are lips 7 under whichthe free edge of the doorsection 6 is adapted to be be inserted. Pivotedto the door-section 5 at points remote from its hinged edge are levers8, which are adapted to take under lips or clips 9 on the body of saidcylinder or to be disengaged therefrom by turning said levers pivotally.Obviously when the free edge of the doorsection 6 is in engagement withthe lips 7 and the levers 8 are turned into engagement with the clips 9said door will be secured in closed position, while when the levers 8are disengaged from the clips 9the door-sections 5 and 6 may be foldedtogether to withdraw the free edge of the door-section 6 from under thelips 7, thus permitting the door to be turned on its hinges to open thesame.

The top of the casing A is adapted to be closed by a cover hingedthereto at one side.

The cylinder B is supported by trunnions 10 and 11, formed on platessecured to the end walls 4 of said cylinder, which engage suitablebearings formed in the lower ends of hangers 12, secured to the upperwooden portions 1 of the casing A and which depend therefrom in properposition. As shown, said trunnions 10 and 11 rest in the lower ends ofslots or grooves 13 in said hangers formed by inwardly-projectingflanges 14 thereon, and said casing is secured against longitudinalmovement by shoulders 15 at the inner ends of said. trunnions, whichproject outwardly, so as to engage the edges of said flanges 14. Asshown also, said flanges 14: are continuous to the tops of said hangersand the upper ends thereof diverge slightly from each other. Saidflanges thus form guides for quickly and conveniently placing thecylinder B within the casingA in proper position with the trunnions 10and 11 in engagement with their bearings in the hangers 12.

The cylinder B is adapted to be rotated by means of a pinion 16, whichengages a gear 17, secured to rotate with said cylinder. As shown, thegear 17 is secured directly to one of the wooden end walls 3 of saidcylinder, the trunnion 11 being formed integral with the hub of saidgear. The pinion 16 is secured to a stub-shaft l8, revolubly mounted ina suitable bearing in a boss 19, formed on a plate 20, rigidly securedto and preferably formed integral with a hanger 12 of the machine. Toprovide for Withdrawing the pinion laterally out of engagement with thegear 17 to permit the removal of the cylinder B from the casing A, arecess 21 is formed in the plate 20, adapted to receive said pinion, andthe stub-shaft 18, to which the pinion 16 is secured, is longer than itsbearing and is movable lengthwise therein to provide for necessarymovement of said pinion to effect engagement thereof with the gear 17and to Withdraw the same into the recess 21 to disengage it from saidgear. The pinion 16 is adapted to be secured in engagement with the gear17 by means of a pin 22, fitted to a suitable bearing in the boss 19,the inner end of which is adapted to engage a groove 23, formed in saidstub-shaft, the relation being such that said pin 22 will engage saidgroove 23 and secure said stub-shaft against longitudinal movement whensaid pinion 16 is in engagement with said gear 17. As shown, movement ofthe pin 22 is limited by means of a headed guide stud or screw 24:,which extends through a slot 25, formed in the upper end of said pin.Rotation is adapted to be imparted to the stub-shaft 22 by a crank orhandle 26, removably secured to the outer end thereof, as by means of awing-screw 27, threaded into the end of said stub-shaft, a shoulder onwhich extends outwardly, so as to bear against the outer end of the hubof said crank or handle.

By making the bearing for the stub-shaft 22 integral with the hanger 12and the trunnion 11, which engages the bearing in said hanger, integralwith the hub of the gear 17, it is obvious that the several bearings andthe relative positions of the parts defined thereby will be unaffectedby swelling or warping the designed operation of the machine at alltimes and under all conditions in the manner desired.

I claim as my invention- In a washing-machine, the combination of acasing, a cylinder mounted therein, a driving-gear and asupporting-trunnion on said cylinder, a driving-pinion and a shaft towhich said pinion is secured and a hanger secured to the inside of saidcasing provided with bearings for said trunnion and for the shaft of thedriving-pinion and provided, also, with a recess to receive saiddriving-pinion to provide for retracting said pinion to permit theremoval of the cylinder from the casing.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention 1 aflix mysignature, in presence of two subscribing Witnesses, this 6th day ofAugust, A. D. 1904.

JAMES M. GAGAN.

Witnesses:

K. A. COSTELLO, CHAS. B. GILLSON.

